The Kubota M7-152 is a solid workhorse tractor that would suit a wide range of applications. Smooth, powerful, and comfortable – there's much to like
If you want to simultaneously impress three people, place a tractor on wide rubber, yoke a high displacement 4-cylinder engine to a well-refined transmission, add a trick loader set-up, and lastly place a Make Farm Trader Great Again cap on the salesman, and the boys are enthusiastically into it.
This was the case when we checked out the Kubota offering in our Tractor Showcase, with Monty (Shaun Monteith) giving us an in-depth warts ‘n’ all look over the M7-152. The takeaway: very few warts and much, much all.
Engine
This Kubota-built 6.1-litre, 4-cylinder Tier 2 engine is slung under the orange Kubota bonnet, offering 148hp of rated power and 168hp max power under PTO load within two minutes of activation and when in transport applications over 20km/hour.
Throughout every phase of our three-day event, this machine showed phenomenal torque while being extremely responsive. It’s set up to go all day (and night too), with the 390-litre fuel tank the largest of all the nine tractors we tested.
Although it might sting a little at the fuel pumps, that should prove a week’s worth of fuel for most farmers.
Another highlight is the 20mm plate joining the front end with the transmission. This delivers strength and is the perfect mounting point for loader brackets. The downside is that this does limit accessibility to the engine oil dipstick and filler cap.
However, in terms of maintenance elsewhere, the single-piece bonnet (which can be opened without tools) lifts high to near vertical, giving no excuse for workers failing to regularly check for birds’ nests or clean the radiators and PowerCore filter.
Offering 500-hour service intervals, it sits in the middle of the pack of the nine tractors featured, and this is significantly backed up by a mighty five-year warranty as standard. This is a substantial period and gives buyers peace of mind.
Transmission
Right: The high-life one-piece bonnet offers great access to the 4-cylinder Tier 2 engine
The Kubota M7-152 has a ZF transmission with a 30×15-speed main gearbox with five ranges of six powershift speeds. It also has the creeper that takes it to 54×27-speed transmission (maths isn’t my strong point – at this point, you may argue English isn’t either). Just focusing on the main gearbox, the 30×15 gives the perfect range of gears for all applications, especially pulling under load. The Kubota offers the most gears of any of our tractors in the 5–20km/hour space. With two auto modes, Field will only change in range gears (you can then manually range change) and Transport will do the whole kit and kaboodle.
Furthermore, the transmission has a simple dial to adjust the auto mode for light (eco) work through to heavy (power) pulling work. This adjusts as soon as the engine lugs down. This will also speed match better, giving a smoother change, and it performed well during our testing on the trailer and the tractor pull, changing down gears while it still had enough forward momentum and didn’t just fall off a cliff power-wise by changing too late. In fairness, the Kubota was the only one that changed up gears on the uphill climb with the trailer – impressive.
Operator environment
The 4-pillar cab has a great amount of visibility paired with awesome headspace. An expansive 4.12sqm of glass gives a great view of the loader all the way through to the side and rear hitch. Getting in and out of the cab was particularly easy with large one-piece doors and a foot pedal to adjust the steering column. The only thing that took a little getting used to was the left armrest-mounted compressor to pump up after the other guys had been in the driver’s seat. Never great for self-confidence!
When it comes to loading, the Kubota allows the operator to change direction on both sides of the cab, meaning you don’t have to pick one and stick with it.
Comfort-wise, the Kubota runs a Dana front axle with bushed wishbone suspension. Featuring 100mm of travel with an override to raise and lower the front suspension manually – making it easier to hitch up implements – you can also make it solid for loader applications, if desired. This combined with the comfortable seat and cab suspension means there’s little, if anything, to complain about in the comfort compartment.
Loader
The Kubota badged Quicke 6M loader is the choice for the Kubota along with the Quicke joystick in the cab. Mid-mount valve mounted and being electronic gives great smooth control of loader functions, along with many button options, including third service. Overall, this was a superb loader package, but the little nipple joystick did take a little bit to get used to and the flexi mount took my brain a bit to work out. Often, I was trying to control the loader with the flexi mount and not the joystick itself – don’t judge me, it had been a long week.
Hydraulics, linkage, PTO
A 110 litres per minute CCLS pump provides the oil flow for all applications. While this sat at the lower end of the pack in terms of flow, it performed well and only missed out on single-digit flow numbers from the bulk of the competition.
To bolster its performance, a dedicated power steering pump of 48 litres per minute on its own made manoeuvring with bales on the front easy despite the wide footprint. Four manual spools are the maximum available on the Kubota and all can be flow adjusted. The green spool has a notable feature, which is especially suited for post drivers, with no self-cancelling under load.
A 9.4-tonne lift capacity is a significant amount for this size of tractor and comes standard with rear hitch shock absorption and automatic stabilisers (also standard). It’s certainly much more user-friendly than most of the other machines we tested with the tun buckle type.
Performance/judges summary
With a large footprint, the Kubota was particularly well-balanced and stable when it came to loading bales. The engine and transmission combination performed well under load. The 30-speed transmission had the equal largest number of gears in the working range, which allowed transmission speed overlap to give seamless changing through loading/tractor pulling/trailer pulling. All round, it’s a solid workhorse tractor that would suit a wide range of applications. Smooth, powerful, and comfortable with an exceptional warranty – there’s much to like.
Top 5 features
- Well-balanced, heavy, but manoeuvrable
- 5-year warranty
- Great comfort and visibility
- Transmission was user-friendly and gave a large number of gears in working range
- Large-capacity 4-cylinder performance
The Kubota comes in three spec levels
Standard: Powershift only, 40km no front suspension, Trelleborg tyres 80L/min gear pump
Deluxe: Powershift 50km/hour, full suspension, 110L/min CCLS, Trelleborg tyres, 3 spools (4th optional).
Premium: Powershift or KVT 50km/hour, full suspension 110L/min CCLS, Michelin tyres, LED lights, Guidance ready, up to 5 electric spools, bigger armrest with 12” in-cab display
| Tractor | Kubota M7-152 |
|---|---|
| Engine | 4-cylinder, 6.1L |
| Stated max horsepower | 168hp |
| Emission level | Tier 2 |
| Transmission | Semi powershift |
| Number of gears | 54x27 |
| Hydraulic capacity | 110L |
| Tyre size | 650/65R38 rear, 540/65R28 front |
| Service interval | 500-hour engine, 500-hour transmission |
| Warranty | 5-year/1000-hour |
